Ted KulfanThe Detroit News
East Lansing — The realization hit Lake Orion coach Joe Woityra hard.
Woityra is in his 15th season coaching Lake Orion softball, and has won more than 400 games (409-121-2), but Lake Orion had never reached the Division 1 state championship game.
Until now.
Lake Orion rallied from an early deficit Thursday, took advantage of a turning point, and defeated South Lyon, 5-4, at Michigan State's Secchia Stadium.
Lake Orion will face Hudsonville (41-0) in Saturday's state title game at 10 a.m. Hudsonville defeated Farmington Hills Mercy, 10-0, in Thursday's other semifinal.
"It's something," said Woitrya, choking up.
Lake Orion (38-5) fell behind 4-0 in the top of the second inning, but roared back with three runs in the bottom of the inning, then added two in the third to go ahead for good.
Alexis Hazen and Anna Gardner lifted sacrifice flies in the third, putting Lake Orion in the lead.
Lake Orion pitcher Rylee Limberger earned the victory, allowing six hits and four runs, striking out two, over seven innings.
"This whole season we've always battled and we've always come out on top," said Limberger, who credited the defense behind her. "I trust them so much. Even last year when we came here (Final Four) we didn't end up winning, but as a team we've come together so much more since then and everyone trusts each other."
Things looked difficult early, especially when South Lyon (33-7-1) standout Ava Bradshaw blasted a three-run home run in the second inning, giving the Lions a 4-0 lead.
Bradshaw is a Miss Softball candidate, one of the best pitchers in the state, and is headed to Duke collegiately. She struck out two hitters in the first inning and appeared to be settling into another strong start.
But on Bradshaw's home run trot — already wearing a brace on her troublesome left knee — Bradshaw hurt her knee in the home-plate celebration. There was a hush in the crowd as she writhed in obvious pain.
"I'm not really sure," Bradshaw said of what exactly happened. "We're going to try to figure it out."
Bradshaw came out to pitch the third inning, but left with a 2-2 count on the second batter after walking the first hitter. Bradshaw returned to pinch-hit in the seventh, but grounded out.
"I don't know if it's disappointing as much as it didn't go our way," Bradshaw said of the Thursday's disappointment. "We had a real good season and didn't anticipate this outcome. We put up a good fight."
South Lyon only mustered two hits the rest of the afternoon, both in the sixth inning. But an unassisted double play by Lake Orion shortstop Ellie Britt ended the threat.
"I didn't feel any momentum shift," said Dave Langlois, South Lyon coach. "The obvious is there, we lost our big bat, certainly our No. 1 pitcher and the best pitcher in the state in my opinion. But I felt like the leadership on the team was staying strong."
Britt, Addy Dukus and Madison Eckert each had two hits to ignite a Lake Orion offense that ably manufactured runs and chipped away in its two big innings.
"We played a tough schedule, faced some tough pitching most of the year, so we've had to work on bunting and moving runners over," Woityra said. "Defensively we played real good. That's our signature, playing defense. Our pitching was solid.
"Being down four runs is tough, but we would have played to 21 outs, chipped away, but again, we took advantage of the situation right away."
Division 2
▶Gaylord 9, Milan 0: Jayden Jones, Addison Wangler, Nora Bethuy and Aubrey Jones each had two hits, and Wangler and Aubrey Jones each drove in three runs, as Gaylord (37-4) moved into Saturday's state championship.
Jayden Jones pitched a shutout, allowing six hits and one run, while striking our four.
Leading 1-0, Gaylord scored three runs in the third, added two runs in the fourth and closed out the scoring with three runs in the sixth, two coming on an Aubrey Jones home run.
Tierra Ronayne had two hits for Milan (27-8).
▶Vicksburg 4, North Branch 0: Delaney Monroe pitched a five-hit shutout and drove in a run, leading Vicksburg (37-7) into Saturday's championship game against Gaylord.
Vicksburg scored three runs in the second inning on only one hit, and two costly North Branch errors.
Both teams had five hits in the game and left five runners on base.
Pitcher Alana Deshetsky struck out seven and had a hit for North Branch (15-20).
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
Scoreboard
Semifinals
At games at Michigan State
Division 1
Thursday
Lake Orion 5, South Lyon 4
Hudsonville 10, Farmington Hills Mercy 0 (6)
Final:10 a.m. Saturday
Division 2
Thursday
Gaylord 9, Milan 0
Vicksburg 4, North Branch 0
Final:12:30 Saturday
Division 3
Today
Ottawa Lake Whiteford vs. Clare, 10 a.m.
Evart vs. Buchanan, 12:30
Final:3 Saturday
Division 4
Today
Hillman vs. Holton, 3
Unionville-Sebewaingvs. Mendon, 5:30
Final:5:30 Saturday
